How an Independent Bike Shop Took Control of Inventory Management
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:57 am
Retail means inventory, but some stores are more complicated than others. For these stores, finding an inventory management system that meets all their needs can make all the difference in the day-to-day running of the business.
Take a bike shop for example: in the sales department alone, there are all sorts of models, not to mention the necessary equipment, specialized clothing and shoes. There is also the mechanical side with bikes to repair, parts to order and components to replace. The inventory grows at an exceptional, even exponential, speed.
When the Néron family founded Cycle Néron in 1970, the inventory poland number for whatsapp management system was much simpler. Over time, it became a little more complex, especially as the company began opening more stores in the Montreal metropolitan area.
There were many locations to manage, changes in consumer behavior and, in recent years, the arrival of electric bikes.
How did the Cycle Néron team deal with this situation?
Lightspeed spoke with Mathieu Séguin, a sales consultant at Cycle Néron for over twelve years, to discuss how the bike shop manages its inventory.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
How has the inventory of the Nero Cycle evolved over the years?
“Before, it was easy, we didn’t have so many SKUs. Now, I have hundreds and hundreds. We work with a huge number of SKUs in store. The problem is that there are so many variations that it just increases, increases, increases. We have so many new products and new brands.
The arrival of the electric bike has changed the situation a lot.
An electric bike is like a car. You can start your bike with your app, you can lock it, you can configure it differently. What is an electric bike? It's a cable, it's a battery, it's the firmware, it's the software. That brings additional challenges.
Before, the system didn't help us. The items weren't necessarily classified in the same way, because there were two different people managing the inventory. That certainly didn't help us."
The shop seen from the inside, with rows of bicycles.
In many cases, the first months of the year are a little quieter. The owners often take advantage of this to close the store for a few days and take stock. Was this the case for the Cycle Néron?
“At the very beginning, we closed the shops and took a day to do the inventory.
We had a program that was made for us. It was a very old program and it was not easy to use. It was not the easiest tool to use. Three-quarters of the time, it would crash. If you scanned an item too quickly, it would crash.
The data search, too [left something to be desired]. Let's say I was looking for a client, the inventory wasn't very well maintained either, because we didn't have the tools that were necessarily well optimized for that.
Also, we continued to open stores. We also knew where we wanted to go, online. At some point, you can't manage everything that way. You're going to need tools that will allow you to do it more, more easily."
How has inventory management changed since you adopted Lightspeed?
“We save time and we no longer have to close.
Now, we are able to do spot checks , it's much easier. We go by categories. We can take half a day, or even a full day at most depending on the size of the store. If we're talking about Nuns' Island, Lachine, Boucherville, it's easy to do.
Brossard is the biggest store, it's the one with the most inventory. We close sometimes, depending on the year. We still close every other day. It takes us a total of two days to do the inventory. But if I hadn't had Lightspeed before going to do the inventory, it would have been a nightmare. Now, it's to forget, doing the inventory .
There, with the catalogs, the import of items with our suppliers, we are able to have methodologies now. Everything is entered correctly the first time. After that, you don't need to redo the work that has already been done. That also saves us time."
Take a bike shop for example: in the sales department alone, there are all sorts of models, not to mention the necessary equipment, specialized clothing and shoes. There is also the mechanical side with bikes to repair, parts to order and components to replace. The inventory grows at an exceptional, even exponential, speed.
When the Néron family founded Cycle Néron in 1970, the inventory poland number for whatsapp management system was much simpler. Over time, it became a little more complex, especially as the company began opening more stores in the Montreal metropolitan area.
There were many locations to manage, changes in consumer behavior and, in recent years, the arrival of electric bikes.
How did the Cycle Néron team deal with this situation?
Lightspeed spoke with Mathieu Séguin, a sales consultant at Cycle Néron for over twelve years, to discuss how the bike shop manages its inventory.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
How has the inventory of the Nero Cycle evolved over the years?
“Before, it was easy, we didn’t have so many SKUs. Now, I have hundreds and hundreds. We work with a huge number of SKUs in store. The problem is that there are so many variations that it just increases, increases, increases. We have so many new products and new brands.
The arrival of the electric bike has changed the situation a lot.
An electric bike is like a car. You can start your bike with your app, you can lock it, you can configure it differently. What is an electric bike? It's a cable, it's a battery, it's the firmware, it's the software. That brings additional challenges.
Before, the system didn't help us. The items weren't necessarily classified in the same way, because there were two different people managing the inventory. That certainly didn't help us."
The shop seen from the inside, with rows of bicycles.
In many cases, the first months of the year are a little quieter. The owners often take advantage of this to close the store for a few days and take stock. Was this the case for the Cycle Néron?
“At the very beginning, we closed the shops and took a day to do the inventory.
We had a program that was made for us. It was a very old program and it was not easy to use. It was not the easiest tool to use. Three-quarters of the time, it would crash. If you scanned an item too quickly, it would crash.
The data search, too [left something to be desired]. Let's say I was looking for a client, the inventory wasn't very well maintained either, because we didn't have the tools that were necessarily well optimized for that.
Also, we continued to open stores. We also knew where we wanted to go, online. At some point, you can't manage everything that way. You're going to need tools that will allow you to do it more, more easily."
How has inventory management changed since you adopted Lightspeed?
“We save time and we no longer have to close.
Now, we are able to do spot checks , it's much easier. We go by categories. We can take half a day, or even a full day at most depending on the size of the store. If we're talking about Nuns' Island, Lachine, Boucherville, it's easy to do.
Brossard is the biggest store, it's the one with the most inventory. We close sometimes, depending on the year. We still close every other day. It takes us a total of two days to do the inventory. But if I hadn't had Lightspeed before going to do the inventory, it would have been a nightmare. Now, it's to forget, doing the inventory .
There, with the catalogs, the import of items with our suppliers, we are able to have methodologies now. Everything is entered correctly the first time. After that, you don't need to redo the work that has already been done. That also saves us time."